U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,485, entitled MULTI-FACTOR BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATING DEVICE AND METHOD, describes “A multi-factor biometric authenticating device and method generates error correction based partial encryption key seed data based on a plurality of sample biometric inputs, such as raw biometric data The error correction based partial encryption key seed data serves as a partial seed for generating a secret encryption key for encrypting user data. The first partial seed is combined with a second partial encryption seed to generate the secret encryption key. The device stores the error correction based partial encryption key seed data and does not store the secret encryption key.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,315, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NORMALIZING BIOMETRIC VARIATIONS TO AUTHENTICATE USERS FROM A PUBLIC DATABASE AND THAT ENSURES INDIVIDUAL BIOMETRIC DATA PRIVACY, describes “A password system comprises a set of code words spaced apart from one another by a Hamming distance (HD) that exceeds twice the variability that can be projected for a series of biometric measurements for a particular individual and that is less than the HD that can be encountered between two individuals. To enroll an individual, a biometric measurement is taken and exclusive-ORed with a random codeword to produce a “reference value.” To verify the individual later, a biometric measurement is taken and exclusive-ORed with the reference value to reproduce the original random codeword or its approximation. If the reproduced value is not a codeword, the nearest codeword to it is found, and the bits that were corrected to produce the codeword to it is found, and the bits that were corrected to produce the codeword are also toggled in the biometric measurement taken and the codeword generated during enrollment. The correction scheme can be implemented by any conventional error correction code such as Reed-Muller code R(m,n). In the implementation using a hand geometry device an R(2,5) code has been used in this invention. Such codeword and biometric measurement can then be used to see if the individual is an authorized user. Conventional Diffie-Hellman public key encryption schemes and hashing procedures can then be used to secure the communications lines carrying the biometric information and to secure the database of authorized users.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,337, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURE AUTHORIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION USING BIOMETRICS WITHOUT PRIVACY INVASION, describes “A method and apparatus for authenticating (or identifying) a subject, includes using one or a plurality of biometric measurements for authentication (or identification) without any sharing of the subject's biometric data with a party requesting authentication.”
Published US Patent Application No. 20030091218A1, entitled METHOD OF HASH STRING EXTRACTION, describes “A method of hash string extraction from biometric information . . . . The method comprises the steps of providing a biometric information sample in the form of a fingerprint for example, extracting features from the biometric information sample and encoding the features based on their location within the biometric information sample; and, generating a string of values based on the extracted features and their determined locations. The method further comprises the steps of hashing the string of symbols to produce a plurality of hash values for comparing the plurality of hash values against a stored hash value for identifying a user.”
Published US Patent Application No. 20030089764A1, entitled CREATING COUNTERFEIT-RESISTANT SELF-AUTHENTICATING DOCUMENTS USING CRYPTOGRAPHIC AND BIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES, describes “a system and method for creating and verifying physical documents and/or smart cards based upon positively identifying the owner, holder, or presenter of the document by relating to the measurement of biometric data of the individual at the time of document and/or smart card creation and verification. The biometric data that can be included in the creation of the document include retinal scan, face print, fingerprint, voiceprint and DNA profiles, or other viable biometric data set. Also, protected data that includes important information of the document itself that is written on the document, is combined with the biometric data to provide a security data block that is printed on the document. This security data block is decoded by a document verifier when presented by a document presenter, to provide for an enhanced level of document protection and identity protection.”
Published PCT Application No. WO9933219A1, entitled ADMINISTRATION AND UTILIZATION OF PRIVATE KEYS IN A NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT, describes the following technology: “In a public key cryptosystem, the private keys of users, as encrypted with a symmetric algorithm by using individual user identifying keys, are stored at the server end along with the users' respective public keys. The server uses an ID of a user transmitted to it from user equipment to read the stored encrypted private key and the public key of the user. The encrypted private key is then transmitted via the network to the user equipment and, locally, at the user equipment the received encrypted private key is decrypted using the user identifying key. The user identifying key may be determined at the user equipment by hashing either the user's pass phrase, which is entered by the user, or the user's biometric information (fingerprint, voice print, retina scan, or face scan). The private key is sent to the user equipment only when needed and, after use, the private key and user identifying key are not retained at the user equipment.”
The disclosures of all publications and patent documents mentioned in the specification, and of the publications and patent documents cited therein directly or indirectly, are hereby incorporated by reference.